Page 88 of The Leaving Kind
“He’s my ... friend.”
Nick’s eyes widened. “You and Victor?”
Cam stopped walking. “What do you mean, me and Victor?”
“You hesitated and your face got all complicated. You’re together, aren’t you?”
A sigh gusted out of him, and it felt pretty good. He’d lost the brittleness of earlier, and his stomach had stopped cramping. “Yep.”
Nick’s smile was sudden and brilliant. “I like Victor a lot. I don’t know him well, but he’s very committed to the programs at the center. To working with kids. He’s a good person.”
Cam could only nod. “He is.”
“I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m going to go talk to Victor now.”
“You do that.” Cam watched him go, bemused.
Back at the patio, his guests had further broken into groups he might not have predicted. Then again, as he watched Gray feed words to Jorge, who nodded back every now and then ... Yeah, he could have guessed at that one. Gray could be sunshine itself, but he also enjoyed a good brood.
Oliver had engaged Renata on the subject of food. Probably trying to sell her on the meatless, cheese-less life. Good luck, buddy.
Of course, in deference to his vegan little bro, Cam had planned for the joyless eaters. He had black bean and rice burgers chilling in the fridge, a dairy-free pasta salad, and plenty of green shit.
Nick sat next to Victor. Both of them held glasses of wine, though Nick didn’t seem interested in his. He’d likely taken it to be polite, and Cam would find it abandoned later. After lighting the grill, Cam drifted in their direction.
Nick turned to him. “You didn’t ask Victor about the cards.”
“The cards?”
“For Gray and Aaron’s game.”
“Oh! Man, I totally forgot.” Cam pointed a finger between them. “Did Nick tell you all about it? Sorry, I was supposed to mention it about a month ago.”
“I gave him an outline of the game,” Nick explained.
Over his head, Victor gave a serious nod. His eyes twinkled with mild amusement. Cam’s stomach did weird things again.
“If you’re interested, you should chat with Gray some,” Cam said. “He’s Aaron’s partner. He’ll have pictures of what Aaron has done so far on his phone. And from the other game they did.”
“It sounds fascinating.”
“What’s that?” Emma asked, joining the conversation. Beck smiled shyly at her elbow.
“I was telling Victor about Aaron and Gray’s new game,” Nick said.
“Oh, I want to hear about that!” Emma looped her arm through Nick’s. “And I want to catch up on everything you’ve been doing as well.”
Nick’s smiles were often awkward. Higher on one side than the other, as though he doubted the appropriateness of his response. When he was with Emma, all such filters disappeared. He’d been caring for her since she was a baby, after all. Might as well be her father.
Cam loved seeing them together. At first, he’d been envious of their relationship. Now he was simply glad for it.
They started chatting, and Cam turned his attention to Beck. “How are ya? Sore from yesterday? Jorge said you all shoveled dirt and mulch for four hours.”
Beck rubbed their left shoulder. “Yep. It was hot too. We went swimming after. So, hey, is it cool if I switch with Estefan on Monday afternoon? I checked with him. Mr. Ness only has three summer classes left.”